VANCOUVER, British Columbia — Abby Wambach lifted American coach Jill Ellis after the final whistle. She ran to the stands for a hug from her wife. And then along with Christie Rampone, she became the first American to lift the Women’s World Cup championship trophy in 16 years.

It all equated to a World Cup farewell for Wambach that was confusing and surreal, joyous and ultimately satisfying for arguably the greatest American female player.

“I literally don’t know how I feel,” Wambach said. “It’s a bizarre thing that is going on right now because of the way it kind of happened.”

Wambach played what’s expected to be her final World Cup match on Sunday when the United States beat Japan 5-2. Wambach came on as a sub in the 79th minute after the partisan crowd at BC Place had started to chant her name.

By then, this championship was already decided. After being the catalyst, the one scoring the goals for so many years for the United States in the biggest matches, Wambach was “sitting my rear-end on the bench” during an electric first half in which the Americans built a 4-1 lead on the strength of a hat trick from captain Carli Lloyd.

“To be quite honest, I felt like I was in a dream sitting there on the bench watching Carli Lloyd go off, and I’m so proud to be on this team,” Wambach said.

“It wasn’t just Carli Lloyd that won us this World Cup — although tonight showed us, our semifinal showed us that she’s a huge reason why we have this World Cup title — it’s the depth of this team and the ability of making those subs in the pivotal moments of certain games. I’m just proud of us and proud of our coaching staff of making the hard decisions.”

Those hard decisions included the one Ellis made to bring Wambach off the bench for three of the final four games of the tournament. In the knockout round, the only time Wambach started was the quarterfinal victory over China.

It was a decision that meant the world’s all-time leading goal-scorer, men’s or women’s, was now a role player. But it made the Americans better.

“I would give up all my individual awards for what we just did tonight, and it’s the truth. It’s the wholehearted truth,” Wambach said.

Solo’s redemption: Hope Solo walked out of BC Place with two pieces of coveted hardware and for the time being, more focus on her skill as a goalkeeper and less on her off-field travails.

“We did it. Awesome.” Solo said as she quickly zoomed through the mixed zone after the United States beat Japan to win the Women’s World Cup.

That was nearly the extent of the words Solo has spoken during the World Cup, one that she entered enveloped in controversy about whether she should have a place on the American squad, and ended with Solo winning the Golden Gloves award as the top goalkeeper of the tournament.

Dad’s advice: Ellis has no doubt she’s made her dad proud. John Ellis served as a commando in the British Marines and had a long career as a coach before moving the family to Virginia when Jill was a young girl.

The U.S. coach has relied on her father’s advice at the Women’s World Cup. Ellis faced criticism early on for the team’s stagnant offense. But step by step throughout the tournament, the Americans came together.

Ellis proved adept at shutting out the noise, saying her dad told her when she got into coaching that “50 percent will be with you and 50 percent will be against you.”

John Ellis was not in Canada for the final. But the 76-year-old sent his daughter texts reading, “Three deep breaths. Keep going.”

Compounding the 49ers’ 0-3 start is that their past two defeats have come against NFC West rivals. Up next is another division opponent Sunday, when the 49ers visit the Arizona Cardinals. Here are some answers to pressing questions: Did Hoyers second half performance save him from a benching this season? — Far Side of Sports (@FarSideOfSports) September 25, 2017 At...